An inquiry into how Elizabeth Wettlaufer was able to murder eight area nursing home residents is not enough, says London-area MPP Teresa Armstrong.

Armstrong, the London Fanshawe New Democrat who is her party’s long-term care critic, is calling on the province for an expanded probe, looking closely at the entire long-term care system, in the wake of Wettlaufer’s sentencing this week.

While Armstrong wants an investigation into the circumstances behind Wettlaufer’s crimes, she said more must be done to restore people’s faith in the system.

“The second phase should look at systemic problems which have been plaguing long-term care for a very long time,” she said. “We need to address it so people can see things are going to change in a meaningful way.”

Minutes after Wettlaufer’s sentencing last Monday, the Ontario government announced an inquiry into the affair. The news followed much prodding from senior advocacy groups such as Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, CARP, the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario and Elder Abuse Ontario.

Pressure for a public inquiry had mounted after Wettlaufer pleaded guilty to eight counts of first-degree murder in eight insulin-injection slayings of care-home residents in her care in Woodstock and London, four counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated assault.

Armstrong said the Walkerton inquiry was such a two-phase inquiry, following a tainted water crisis in 2000 that killed five people and made 2,500 ill.

“People died because of water contamination,” she said. “When . . . people’s lives are at stake, we need to do more, rather than just pinpoint what went wrong in the original (criminal) case.”

Eighteen months ago, Ontario’s auditor general criticized the province’s oversight of its 630 long-term care homes, noting a backlog of inspections for “critical incidents,” such as neglect, abuse or unexpected deaths, had doubled over 15 months.

Two years earlier, the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care hired 100 more long-term care inspectors after it was found to be breaking its own nursing home inspection law.